Commentary to the Shulhan Arukh, laws of shehitah, the Jewish method of slaughtering permitted animals or birds for food. The underlying principle of the procedure is to kill the animal in the swiftest and most painless way possible by cutting horizontally across the throat, severing the trachea (windpipe), the esophagus, the jugular veins, and the carotid arteries. Over the years many customs and variation of rules concerning the procedure have been developed by the various Jewish communities around the globe.